Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and The Prince and the Pauper show character development in the sense that it is written according to how Mark Twain grew up and seems to be written similarly, as to how society changed Mark Twain. Outward Influences change a person’s perspective automatically. Mark Twain also uses many symbols to enhance how each of the stories happened, including responsibilities to human guards. His tone is also important because he shapes the stories after his own childhood so he is really using a character to share his messages with the readers. This is used to express theme because it appears as evidence.
Character development shows what life is like for the characters and illustrates what happens in difficult, inevitable situations. As The Prince and the Pauper progresses, Tom matures and he begins to show a higher sense of competence towards others. He learns how to act when he greets other members of the royal family and he shows more respect more naturally to others. “He learned to show no surprise at other’s vulgarities” (Prince 42). These books could have actually happened; and in the foreword he even goes so far as to suggest that the story might have happened (Wiggins 342) Tom goes through many changes in many different situations. The Prince and The Pauper has the essence of boyhood in it; it has variety and vigor; it has abundant humor and plentiful pathos. (Wagenknecht 455) This book shows how Tom (the pauper) develops with the necessary skills to be a prince, as they are needed. He has to act like an adult just as he always used to have to do at home but now he is doing it to survive and for the entire country. The story is directed to the mythic, primitive, juvenile mind, and to this mind, it speaks a message: mankind is fundamentally good, and the virtues of charity, mercy and magnanimity are inherent in man’s nature. (Wiggins 341) When Tom was thrown into the role of Prince, it was at this moment that I found the most respect for Tom and his responsibility level. “A few minutes later, the little Prince of Wales was garlanded with Tom’s fluttering odds and ends, and the little Prince of Pauperdom was tricked out in the gaudy plumage of royalty.” (Prince 21). Tom Sawyer also goes through different situations. For example, he is always trying to correctly run different complete remedies for curses that he encounters. He also rescues a girl from a killer when they were all trapped inside of a cave. He is forced to act like an adult for one of the first times in his life and finds out how to resolve the situations. “Becky, I was such a fool! Such a fool! I never thought we might want to come back ! No- I can’t find our way back!” (Sawyer 201) He keeps his emotions inside so as not to scare the other person he is with. At this moment, he had the most amount of respect for himself. As the story progresses, the characters develop into responsible young adults.
Mark Twain uses symbolism to help the reader to understand the story better. A symbol is any object, person, place, or action that stands for something larger than it actually is. They also help to illustrate parts of the book. Many symbols are shown through out the book each with their own meanings depending on your perspective. In my opinion, Tom’s house at the beginning of the story is a symbol because it showed how insignificant Tom and his family were to the rest of the country. “The house which Tom’s father lived in was up a foul little pocket. It was small, decayed, and rickety, but it was packed full of wretchedly poor families” (Prince 12). Mark Twain grew up in a lifestyle completely different situation. He was born in a town so small that when he was born he increased the population by one percent. (Colvici 529) He used the extreme to because it was an opposite extreme, which he felt that he would be able to relate to. Mark Twain served in the Missouri Militia when he was younger and will usually put small images of guards in his stories. (Lindborg 1828) For example, the guards that were stationed outside of the palace were like the people in his life who did not give him a chance, just like they would not give Tom a chance to explain himself when he told them that he was really the prince. “They do not believe me he thought, they do not recognize me” (Prince 95) The Mob in The Prince and the Pauper is also a symbol. The Mob in The Prince and the Pauper is often as contemptible as the mob Colonel Sherburn insults in Huckleberry Finn. (Wiggins 344) A mob can never think for itself and always relies on the rage of others to continue. It symbolizes a challenge for Tom and shows how he is able to take care of it like a true Prince. Tom Sawyer is stuck with the unfortunate task of having to whitewash the entire fence surrounding his house. He eventually convinces the neighborhood boys to do it for him. By the end of the assignment, he has built it up to be such a good thing that they finally begin to give him different items that they own just for the opportunity to be able to do his work for him. The job of whitewashing represents his imprisonment to his aunt. “He began to think of the fun he had planned for the day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions” (Sawyer 10) It represents imprisonment because he is not able to do anything until after it is finished. When he gets out of doing the work, he is proving again that he is in charge of his own future. When Tom received a Bible from his Sunday School class, an honor usually reserved for only the brightest and most dedicated students; he is showing his ability to be very cunning. He acquired all of the tickets he traded in by trading other useless items of his for individual tickets. He was slowly building a collection that would be used when it would greatly help his own reputation. “Tom was therefore elevated to a place with the judge and the other elect, and the great news was announced from headquarters” (Sawyer 30) There is another important symbol that Tom Sawyer is responsible for. It is a thin piece of string that came from a kite that Tom acquired from one of the neighborhood boys. When Tom and Becky are trapped in the cave together, they both hold one end so that when necessary, they will be able to get to the other. The string symbolizes the lifeline between Tom and Becky. This helps to improve the odds that they will both be able to survive. “He took a kite line from his pocket, tied it to a projection, and he and Becky started” (Sawyer 210).
Mark Twain uses tone to share his feeling without making it sound like he is lecturing. Tone is the writer’s choice of words and details demonstrates the attitude that the author takes toward the subject, characters, or audience for the book. Others characters indirectly relay the messages to the reader. Tom is very similar to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is another book that is written by Mark Twain. They both seem to start out with a hard time surviving but both finish out on top. Many Literary critics objected to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. (Lindborg 1828) I believe that Mark Twain portrays his own life throughout the lives of his characters. He lived in Hannibal along the Mississippi river which later became settings for two of his own books”. (Stovall 33) Tom is a child that seems to have a hard time with his life and winds up making the wrong decisions because he does not have a main guardian at home, his mother tries but his father and his mother are both very abusive physically and emotionally. Mark Twain’s family was not rich or even well to do. (Stovall 33) If he had two parents that he respected more, he would probably would not have run from his house and switched with the Prince. He would listen to their instructions. Huckleberry Finn also seems to be a bad influence on him and is regarded as a very bad child by all of the people that live in his town. “Thomas Sawyer, this is the most astounding confession I have ever listened to. No mere ferule will answer for this offense” (Sawyer 47). Mark Twain shows his frustration with the unfairness of school because he quit school at the age of twelve. (Mencken 423) School is never mentioned in this book and I do not think that Mark Twain deems it important enough to go into the book. The author is trying to portray his own hardships through his character as a way to get his point across. He is trying to criticize society just as many authors that write narratives. It is a very normal motivational reason that most authors use. Tom is just trying to get through life but was dealt a bad hand and had bad circumstances to begin with. There was nothing that he was able to do about it and he had to live how he could.
This book stresses three forms of literary analysis, which are character development, symbolism, and tone and are very important to the reasoning behind the book. The Prince and the Pauper shows that Mark Twain has written it because of his life. He grew up with the same opportunities as Tom in both books and seems to think similarly to how he does according to his past actions.
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